A recent mentoring conversation with a beginner in the art of facilitation prompted this post of things that I think about when I facilitate. I love the expression that my French friends use "to animate". A facilitator's role can range from being more of a mediator working invisibly to being more of an animator applying one's unique, dynamic energy to create a container for participants to discover their role as heroes of the unfolding experience. An effective facilitator of a meeting- keeping focus/time, moderating participation and achieving objectives - falls somewhere in the middle.

Each person brings uniqueness to the role; each situation invites different ways of being. Building capacity for facilitation is a practice. The art is knowing what is optimal for the context and having the flexibility to improvise across the spectrum in the moment!

1. A Learner's Mindset

Facilitation is a skill. Skills are best practiced over time with a learning approach. I like to identify the one or two skills that I want to focus on in an event that I am facilitating. Knowing what I want to practice heightens my attention, then I practice it and solicit feedback on that specific task as well as generally so that I develop deeper awareness of both strengths and weaknesses. Culturally, some people focus too much on strengths and others too much on weaknesses.

True self awareness sees both as they are. Hone your strengths and grow your skills around your weaknesses. Even as you become more experienced, seek feedback as if you were beginner. Meng's book on Google's program for emotional intelligence development, Search Inside Yourself, provides useful tools to cultivate these skills.

2. The Prep/Setup

Attending to the physical space is one of those invisible acts that yields great benefits. Here are prompts:

how will the physical space support the intended flow of the event?

what will people be looking at (your back/peoples' backs or everyone's faces)

how does the space support or inhibit engagement/participation?

how will people feel in the space?

what is the shape of the table (e.g. in mediation, we prefer round whenever possible to get over the "idea" of sides), how are the chairs arranged (e.g. if no round table, we seat "opposing parties" on the same side of the table to physically remove an adversarial stance).

Preparing the flow of an event is crucial. When I create an experience for people, I consider:

how will people engage with convener, facilitator and each other?

what will be everyone's first shared experience?

how does the agenda fit with and/or respond to the people in the room?

what support will people need to fully engage (trust building, food, bio breaks, reflection time, social interaction to enhance/solidify content, scaffolded experience)?

how flexible is the schedule to accommodate the unpredictable?

how can we design the flow to yield the desired participant experience?

what design of processes/methods will yield the desired outcomes for the event?

Designing what methods/processes to apply is an art and craft that benefits from experimentation, success, failure, spontaneous adaptation, curiosity and flexibility. For discussion on these topics, I suggest browsing the Changemaker Bootcamp Watercooler: "space physics", "group physics" and "designing engagement."

3. The Start

Creating a container that begins with a clear start and a conscious close is powerful. The start creates our first shared experience, it sets the tone and supports shared understanding about our goals (Outcomes), what we'll do to get there (Agenda) and how we would like to engage with each other (what people often refer to as group agreements/ground rules, though I call party favors, see below.)

I like to ask people as they introduce themselves to answer the question: "what do you hope to get out of today?" and record responses on a flip chart. This participant generated list sets shared expectations from the outset, serves as a guide for me. and provides a reference to check at the close.

The Ariel Group proposes a 4 question check in that asks: How are you feeling? What percentage are you present? What is keeping you from being 100% present? What do you hope to get out of ____? and closing with a round of "Aha Moments".

How are you feeling? What percent are you present? What's keeping you from being 100% present? What do you hope to get out of ______?

4. The Container I follow these key points from Angeles Arrien to create a container whether it is a design/product workshop for creative problem solving or a mediation to resolve a conflict.

A) What will people need to maintain sufficiency?

What do people need to be fully present and engaged? Attending to this means orienting people to the space (logistically, e.g. bathrooms, fire exits, etc), to the day (e.g. bio breaks, etc) and to the content (e.g. schedule, etc). It necessitates understanding what "safety" people need to participate fully; often called group agreements (or ground rules), I prefer to call these "Party Favors." I share my basic list then invite people to add any others that they need to participate fully in the experience.

My basic list includes:

cultivate curiosity (ask questions, allow emergence, think different)

radical respect (courage to speak, humility to listen)

build on the ideas of others (encourage WILD ideas, have fun)

B) What can be used to facilitate shared understanding?

When I address shared understanding, I think about it both as something verbal and something visual. Having someone who can be a "scribe" to record notes, or better yet, a visual notetaker, who can make beautiful picture-filled notes, helps participants know that they have been heard.

The main areas that I attend to for shared understanding that include a visual component:

Artifacts: If one does a good job of taking notes during an event, then these become artifacts for future conversations.

C) Host Different Points of View

We are increasingly in environments of preference-philia- a homogeneity that diminishes our capacity to host different points of view. Here are a couple of tips/tools for supporting the expression of diverse views.

Conversational Justice: when developing an exercise, time structured segments that require each person to participate and that afford each person the same amount of time to participate can provide conversational justice. This forces participation by quieter people and limits the time of people who might tend to dominate a discussion.

Participatory Engagement: engaging people who might be reluctant to speak in a larger group can be done by breaking into smaller groups that enable more participation. Alternatively, an activity in silence ensures that everyone participates or providing everyone with sticky notes and asking questions of a large group but each person has to answer on a sticky note.

Lateral Decision Making: adopting approaches to differing views that allow everyone to look in the same direction at the same time can be powerful. Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats introduces this model that works effectively and efficiently for inclusive, participatory discussions. See under "Read More" for a version of this method that I adapted and applied for clinical decisions.

Scaffold the Experience: easing people into sharing their views through a staged process can help people to feel comfortable when an issue may be threatening. One effective model that I have used starts with:

me (silent/my perspective)

me with you (silent/I look at what you wrote)

me (silent/reflect on my perspective informed by seeing yours)

you with me (silent/I look at what your wrote and ask/build on it)

us (engage in dialogue openly)

D) Hold the Creative Tension

In addition to hosting different views, one needs to be able to sit with the views in opposition- to lean into the uncertain space. In a world that rushes to solutions, the facilitator's role is to allow a solution to elude long enough for great ideas to emerge. This may mean: Sit in the Messiness. Change the Frame. Go for a Walk in Nature. Visit a Toy Store. Think Different. Most of all, cultivate the capacity for uncertainty.

At the 2008 World Forum on Facing Violence: Justice, Ethics & Conflict Resolution, Mark Gerzon promised to "Keep it warm, but not too hot;" his book, Leading through Conflict is a favorite resource on building this capacity to hold the creative tension.

Another favorite is John O'Neil's Leadership Aikido. Building this capacity takes practice. Each person's journey is unique. I shared insights from my learnings building this capacity for mediation in Passive Participation in Conflict and a chapter on clinical ethics mediation.

5. The Close

Whether it is a check out, sharing "aha moments" or "jazz hands" moments, or making commitments to action, the act of consciously closing the container strengthens the power of the space created.

6. The Learning Loop

For the facilitator, the end comes after the learning loop. At the beginning, we set out our learning goals. At the end, we need to get feedback on our practice.

I prefer to do a learning loop by:

learner shares what went well

learner shares what could be done differently next time

peers: external people can share their perspectives, ideally in a feedback sandwich: positive - growth opportunity - positive. Feedback needs to include concrete examples fand specific explanations of why it was positive and/or a growth opportunity.

participant group (probably via email): provide feedback

learner integrates self-assessment and feedback into a refined understanding of his/her abilities

learner identifies new skills for revised learning goals at next experience

Facilitation requires practice of skills as well as the process. By evaluating participants' feedback and achieved outcomes, a facilitator can assess whether the methods selected were appropriate for the participant's experience and if the process yielded the desired outcomes. (double learning loop)

On a learning loop note, I would love to hear from you about whether this post is helpful. Comments, questions and additional resources welcome!

Remember this? A camera, right? Today, in 2014, it's referred to as a FILM camera. Distinct from just, well, a camera. FILM cameras are novelty items acquired in the closets of grandparents and thrift stores. This is an intergenerational story about the unfolding adventure of a FILM camera.

Kate's take on how it began:

This Kodak Instamatic FILM camera belongs to my friend, Reika Goh- my 16 year old neighbor who just moved back to Singapore. She bought it at a thrift store in San Francisco. The story of the FILM camera began with one of those milestone moments of adulthood. It went something like this...

I was driving my two teen neighbors home after our final Hapa-Hafu Kitchen Project (HKP)- a semi-regular time to cook fusion foods that celebrate our mixed heritages. As I drove, I overheard this conversation between the girls sitting in the back:Reika: "I went thrifting last weekend on Haight St"Clarissa: "My sister and her friends like to do that, did you get anything?"Reika: "Yeah! I got a FILM camera!!!"Clarissa: "Oh, wow, that's cool! I got a FILM camera from my Dad. What kind of FILM camera is it?"Reika: "A Kodak Instamatic, it's such a COOL FILM camera!"Clarissa: "Does it work?"Reika: "I think so, but I have to put new film in it. I'm SO excited to have a FILM camera."

All I could hear was this strange use of the word FILM with camera. I piped in: "Wait, why are you girls talking about a FILM camera? All cameras use film." Silence... "Oh,...wait,.... right I guess, they're digital now... oh, right, and mobile phones as cameras... Wait, wait, you mean, you girls haven't ever known film in cameras?"

In the typical, resistant disbelief one experiences in these moments, I said confidently, ardently, "Surely, they still sell cameras that use film in stores; high end cameras use film. Of course, a store like Best Buy also sells cameras with film, not only thrift stores." At that moment, we passed a Best Buy and determined by a haze of denial and curiosity, I bet the girls $1 that Best Buy sold cameras with FILM. So in we went and wandered around the "camera" section --- all digital cameras--- disbelief! Thanks to disposable FILM cameras, I didn't lose the $1, but it was humbling. As we got back into the car, I groveled, "Oh man, I'm officially old now! Thanks for bearing with me through that 'catching up with time' moment." Laughter erupted!

Then I wanted to get into the nitty gritty details, "So, does the camera have undeveloped film in it?"Reika: "Yes, but it's not recoverable."Kate: "Why not?"Reika: "It's in a cartridge and I would have to take it out in pitch dark and I don't think it'll work"Kate: "Of course, it can be done! And WE HAVE to do it! Imagine what story might be hidden in the film?! Who gives away a camera with film in it? Pictures tell a story- maybe it's a love story, a mystery to be solved. We have to find out the story inside this camera-- where it's been, to whom it belonged, it'll be a mystery for the HKP to solve..." Reika: "I don't think it'll work, it has to be pitch dark and we have to get it out of the cartridge and keep it sealed. And I think the film is really old, kind of like the camera."Kate: "We can do it! We have to do it!"

But of course, the story of the FILM camera begins with Reika. Here's her take:

Reika's on How It Began:

“I’m buying it. I don’t care”, I told my friend as I carried the Kodak Instamatic 100 in my hand. During my previous visit to Thrift Town in the Mission, I remember catching a glimpse of the cameras stowed away in the glass cabinet and vowing to visit the area the next time I would return. And when I did, this time round with a friend, I spent about half an hour in that one area, inspecting and observing the details of every camera we had found. My friend and I felt bad for the sales lady who had to keep taking out and putting back every camera we were fiddling around with, but we were being teenagers, glued to our wonderful find of the camera section. Out of all the cameras, the Kodak Instamatic 100 caught my eye. With its boxy and sleek shape, a metallic body with hints of red, it was obvious that I, Reika Goh, wanted it so badly.

I’m not one who buys everything and anything that I like. I’m pretty careful and picky when it comes to spending money, but when precious things like this pop up every once in a while, it’s a no-brainer for me. Plus, there was still film in it! So, with the camera in my hand, along with a few pieces of clothing, my friend and I queued up for the cashier with grins on our faces. I was excited to show my new camera around. The next day, when I went to hang out with my HKP (Hapa/Hafu Kitchen Project) crew, I told them about my new “vintage” find. While 15 year old Clarissa and I saw the camera as “old” and “vintage”, Kate, on the other hand, did not. This camera did not spark Kate the way it did for Clarissa and I, but instead, made her realize that the things Clarissa and I found “old” was used or seen during her younger days. When I told Kate that I had done some research on an alternative film that the camera could use, she suggested we go to Best Buy to get some. Clarissa and I were both doubtful that Best Buy would sell film, but off we went anyway, with Kate eager on finding film for this camera. We all hopped out of the car and entered the shop. While Clarissa and I looked at digital cameras, Kate went to ask a salesperson about film. The person made a face and responded, “We don’t sell film here. We have disposable cameras though, if that’s what you’re looking for.” After questioning the salesperson for five minutes, we all left Best Buy and decided that it was best to visit a camera store. On the way there, Kate told us how weird it was that we were calling objects from her childhood as “vintage” and how “old” she felt. It was an interesting conversation as we all sat in Kate’s car and discussed how rapidly our world was evolving.

When we arrived at the camera workshop and picked up the film we needed, we drove back home, turned off all lights, shut ourselves in the pitch black bathroom and began to take the film out of the camera. It was my first time being in such a dark environment, and the process of taking the film seemed to have taken hours. The cartridge took forever for us to pull apart. But, with Kate’s strong will, she pulled it apart and even broke a nail during the process. (Go Kate!) We kept the film safely in a wooden box, and it sat in Kate’s house for months as we were both too busy to find the time to find a place to get it developed. I thought that the film was too old to get developed and that the images would not come out at all.

Back to Kate:

So, when we got home that night, I converted my bathroom into a dark room. We took the cartridge out of the camera and began fiddling with it. Pulling, twisting, pulling, twisting. It was hard to pull apart. At one point, it seemed that there was no way we could break this plastic without damaging the cartridge (remember this was all in the dark!) Then it "popped" (i.e. we cracked it) and then we worked that crack until it opened. As I pulled the film out, there was a layer of paper attached to the back of the film. I rolled it up and placed it into this double sealed wood container. We put an extra layer of tape on the outside to make sure that it didn't open and expose the film.

I went off to Europe and Africa for work. Reika moved back to Singapore. The film canister sat neglected on my desk until the fall when I met Eugene Kim, an avid photographer who posted something on Facebook about film and it reminded me that I wanted to get the film developed. I asked for a recommendation of a place to get film developed-- realizing that now, getting FILM developed is a novelty.

Eventually, I took the container to Gasser Photo in San Francisco. I had an excited though mostly incoherent conversation with the very patient, knowledgable employee who listened to my story about the camera. She endeavored to decipher what kind of camera it was, because I kept referring to the "cartridge" yet said that it was not a Polariod. I didn't remember the make/model of camera or know the type of film. She opined that it was 110 film and advised me that I needed to be sure what type of film it was before I got it developed. While that is quite logical, it had entirely slipped my mind. I had only known 35 mm film and polariods; I didn't realize there were so many different types of film!

I emailed Reika in Singapore to confirm the film type from the cartridge container; 126 film was the reply. Then began the quest to find a photo lab that could develop 126 film. Thanks to Wikipedia, I learned about different types of film and discovered that Kodak discontinued making 126 film in 2008, so there are very few labs with the chemicals needed to develop this type of film. On a January trip to LA, I decided to check for photo labs. It's Hollywood- people use film here! Sure enough, I found Simi Valley Photo Lab. I called the shop and they had the chemicals to develop 126 film though the owner strongly warned me that it was likely that there would be nothing viewable on the film. While I was wildly enthusiastic about the story that might come from these long lost pictures, I was equally pragmatic to realize that it was likely 30+ year old film, subjected to who knows what conditions and would almost certainly be unreadable.

When I went to the store to drop off the film, I told the owner about the adventures with the FILM camera that was now in Singapore. He suggested that I wait while the film was developed since it was likely there wouldn't be anything on it, so that I didn't unnecessarily pay for images to be scanned. He seemed perplexed by my enthusiasm to develop pictures from a camera that wasn't mine. I explained that I was following through on the project with my 16 year old friend and I wanted her to have a sense of the joys and wonder from learning the history of "things" - all too forgotten in a highly disposable world. He commented, "Who do you think are the ones who are using film cameras? It's almost all teenagers." I left for 30 minutes where I waited for what seemed like an eternity. It was exactly 1 year since the car conversation that started this whole adventure... what would come of it?

I drove back to the shop and went in. The owner emerged from the back with a roll of negatives and a look of disbelief. "Well, you won't believe it but there are images on here." I ordered scanned images to be emailed. They arrived a week later. I was shocked by how well they turned out!

Reika on the Finale:

Even though I thought that the film was too old to get developed and that the images would not come out at all, I recently received news from Kate that some of this twenty-something-years-old images were appearing! Now, as I sit in my room in my old home in Singapore, I eagerly wait for Kate to send the scanned images of the developed film. Just when I thought the adventure was coming to an end, it is still ongoing as these images we’ll have, will be our new mystery. No wonder it was instinct for me to buy that camera.

Finding the Date and the People:

After reviewing the photos with my father, here's what we observed. The Kodak Instamatic came out in 1963. From the pictures, we've dated this film to the early/mid 60s. That means the FILM is roughly 50 years old!!

Please let us know if you spot something in these pictures that would help to date them, and if you recognize the PEOPLE in these pictures, please let them/us know!

Here are the things that we identified to determine the date:

Drape Style

Beehive/Bouffant Hairstyle

Skinny Ties

Eyeglasses

Metal TV tray

Stripe Tie

Bouffant/Beehive Hairstyle

At knee length skirt/dress

Reclining Lazy boy

Pole Lamp

Reclining Lazy-boy Chair

Coffee table style

Style of Eye Glasses

Ties

Short sleeve shirts [style]

Shirt style on man on left

Type of pot

Eyeglasses

Drapes

TV Tray

Skinny Ties

Short sleeve shirts

Below/at knee length skirt

Most of all, if you recognize the PEOPLE in these pictures, please let them/us know!

A call to Visionaries, Revolutionaries & Dissident FuturistsPlease join us at Dissident Futures at YBCA on Saturday, Jan 25

Utopias: Lost & Found: Co-create the future of Utopias Lost and Found. Collaboratively create the future of society in the lobby of the YCBA. Use your imagination build your Utopia and watch your vision change between entering the show and exiting the building.

Share your vision-- start a revolution: Share your vision for humanity and the revolution that will help us get there. In < 5 minutes create and publish your story, share it and find co-conspirators to ignite your revolution

This public program is organized in conjunction with the group exhibition Dissident Futures which is currently on view at YBCA until February 2, 2014. Dissident Futures is an investigation into possible alternative futures, particularly those that question or overturn conventional notions of innovation in biological, social, environmental, and technological structures.

Visionaries and Revolutionaries is a creative community with members representing a diversity of disciplines, who come together to share the ways in which they solve social problems that they care about in imaginative ways. Through this series, social innovators can explore the intersection of their aspirations for world change and learn from each other's diverse backgrounds in art, science, and technology.

Last January, the effervescent writer and life coach MeiMei Fox published 40 Days of Joy: A Happiness Practice on her inspiring HuffPo blog: The Life Out Loud. The post went viral as people took up the challenge to cultivate joy in everyday life sharing their adventures on Twitter with #40daysofjoy Inspired by the idea and reminded of the wisdom that a great year is made up of great days, I decided to make a gift to share the 40 Days of Joy practice with a friend. I realized that forwarding the post wouldn't be enough to prompt action, so I decided to prototype a gift for 40 Day of Joy. Here's the what/how/why.

Step 1: Find small cards for prompts. I used these "word cards" that come on a binder clip because they already have a hole punched. Alternatively a craft hole punch could add a fun touch or cutting paper squares could work as well. I wanted a sturdier paper and the word cards thickness was ideal.

Step 2: Determine the prompts. I worked from MeiMei's original post and interspersed a few of my own joy prompt ideas. I also made a stash of extras just in case the prompt of the day didn't sit well with my friend. Any action is better than no action when cultivating a new habit.

The most challenging part of this project was figuring out how to make it "aichaku" (a "love fit" as the brilliant John Maeda explained beautifully in this post), so that participating daily in this practice is easy and enticing. I wanted to design a beautiful and joyful experience - a ritual action with positive reinforcement and visual feedback so that one wants to do it again and again. All too often we start these feel good practices, yet they fall by the wayside amidst our busy lives and other pressures.

Step 3: Decide on the means of the daily prompt.

I found these little clasps with colorful strings and attached one clasp to each prompt card to be pulled off a hook one day at a time, then placed in a jar of joy. I used a simple glass jar for all the finished prompts. Since it's clear, it can be a decorative reminder of the joys cultivated and may also serve as a repository for beginning a new 40 day journey.

Another alternative idea was to cut a small cork board canvas to sit on a miniature easel. Each day, one pulls a card from a pile, then pins it onto the cork board with colorful pins. I suggest to see what you find around to repurpose or what you discover when you go to the store. Think about what would engage the recipient most- if they are avid on twitter or facebook, perhaps inviting them to share their joys prompts or activities with the #40daysofjoy community. I am curious what other ways you hack this gift to meet the recipient's rhythm, so please comment and let me know what you do.

Time will tell if the design works as a love fit for this friend. Today is Day 1 and I've already heard the first joy prompt is "skip" and the first step to any practice is to begin...

One of my favorite prototypes from the Macroscope Labs was a tool to organize all of the "activities" one engages in the workplace of the future. Play. Projects. Ideas. Prototypes. Work. Creative. The distinctions blur.

Macroscope Labs Playhouse~ producing the future, one play at a time ~

We tossed around the idea that Macroscope Labs would be a theatrical playhouse. In our mL playhouse, ideas and projects that we incubated would come to life similar to a play. Each play has a particular stage of development (from open mike to post production). Much like a summerstock playhouse, our role might vary on each play, from scriptwriter to actor to set designer to costumer to producer- depending upon what was needed to get the job done or to grow our learning edge. Each activity requires something different and invites an unique blend of creative collaborators.

Open Mike

Idea in incubation:

you talk about the idea to see whether it gains traction, whether you still like it after a few pitches, what responses you get. it may be an idea you want to hand off

Staged Reading

Idea in exploration:

you find someone else who wants to build with you and you want to see whether its viable. you delve in to explore what next

Off Off Broadway

Idea in pilot:

you decide to give it a quick prototype- rough and dirty. You want learning and feedback. Test to decide whether to investment more time and money

Main Stage

Full steam

you've got money in it and you want a tony. get the best cast/crew, rehearse and execute. everyday is a new day on the stage.

Post production

Wind down:

Close elegantly & move on. Review, learn, celebrate. This may mean the show goes on tour, hand off to new team or document conclusion. Alls well that ends well.

7 steps:

1. Inventory ALL of your projects - one idea/project per post it - sub-projects for one job = separate post-its - suggestion: color code by theme or by paid/unpaid

2. Organize the post-its according to the stage of development - follow the stages noted above, I sometimes include an off broadway (between off-off and main stage)

3. Notice where there is a high concentration of post-its - the distribution will help you see where you are spending time and energy - is this distribution congruent with your current needs or are you currently stressed - if self-employed on project work, do you have an appropriate distribution of paid idea/projects - if you have a lead role in more than 2-3 projects on the main stage, you might need a cardio stress test

4. Identify what is your role on the projects - is it your idea? are you rallying the team? are you a first follower? are you the broadcaster? - does the role play to your strengths? are you on your learning edge? - how does the team on this project feel for you?

5. Notice your roles - are they always the same? do you feel more energized in some than others? - are you building your craft/skills in each of the different roles? - who do you want to be your mentor for each role?

6. Identify all of your current collaborators (cast & crew) - put each by the respective project and identify their role on the project - are all of the roles that need to be filled to complete the project full? - is the team well aligned to deliver based on their skill strengths? - what skills do you need to complement your role/skills to get this project to fly? - where can you find people who are smarter than you are at this? do you know them already?

7. Fail often, early. Learn. Dive in or move ON! - what is the next action step? Put that onto whatever project software you use. i like wunderlist and asana* - identify an end point for each stage, so that you know... when to stop and assess? - check out my 5*5 method posts for a systematic approach to move from idea incubation to explore/pilot

Attract the Best Cast & Crew .... and enable excellence in their performance

Hire people who are smarter than you are

Communicate the vision

- on stage, that is a script & blocking,** what does your idea need?

Allow the vision to live in dialogue with the creative genius of the team

Trust the team to do their magic (you hired people who are smarter than you are)

IN ACTION: how it looks on the wall.

You can create your own paper version for your wall. A digital version,as below, is available for download as well. You can play with this digital version in powerpoint: import the .png, create text boxes for each of your projects, lasso/copy the people and group each person with a name and move it around until it works for you. If you have photoshop, it'll be even easier.

*these are two services that i have used and liked. i have no financial, professional or personal connection to either company. people are very particular about their project management software, enjoy whatever one works best for you to get things done!

** Ingmar Bergman and Creative Leadership by Bo Gyllenpalm, the most influential book I read in 2011. (apologies, I know that it is out of print and have asked Bo to consider republishing it as I find it more relevant than ever).

Dedicated to all those on the journey to be the change through creative lifestyle design, particularly the lovely Joep Kuijper, Seb Paquet on a 100 day journey into creative economy and Jean Russell, life explorer of creative engagement. May your project management always allow room for passionate play, creative inspiration and hacking!

Thought Contributors: Idea developed in collaboration with the enchanting creative Eddie Harran at a time when I was fascinated by Bo Gyllenpalm's book on the stage leadership of creative director, Ingmar Bergman: what better role model than someone who pulled career best performances from cast/crew night after night for years and imagine, he never returned to the theater after the curtain went up on opening night.). The creative innovator and the person who turned me onto the power of Mastermind ever-inspiring Do More Great Work guru Michael Bungay Stanier of Box of Crayons. Digital to wall/post-its thanks to the effervescent creative Loretta Rae.

Mash it up. Hack it. Please share your hacks!

On March 30, 2012... in cities around the world, designers and creatives met in teams to donate 8 hours overtime for a good cause as part of 8-i, a self-organizing event kickstarted by New Guard designers in the NLs in 2004... learn more about 8-i

We joined teams of creatives all over the world (Netherlands, Berlin, London, Vienna, New York, Rio) ... in an 8 hour sprint to solve a communications challenge. San Francisco participated for the first time. Live from Studio 305 in the Best Foods Building, a team of creatives solved a communications challenge for the non-profit, InSTEDD (innovative support technologies for emergencies, disease and disaster). Learn more about InSTEDD's amazing tool suite at instedd.org

This short video shares our design process and the storyboard that we created for InSTEDD- enjoy!

This post is one in a series of posts that document pilot/prototype projects with the format 5 things that I wish someone had told me before I started in <5% of the time spent on the project. This post also provides some context around the project, since it was a cornerstone project for me in the second half of 2011.

In June 2011, Edward Harran and I embarkeded on a 6 month experiment. A deep dive collaboration across the Pacific Ocean. Eddie in Queensland. Kate in San Francisco. Part mastermind for our personal projects and consulting gigs, part virtual praxis of a future of work digital innovation lab for a globally distributed team and part incubator of ideas. We set off to explore.

Macroscope, coined by Eddie, reflects the "big picture" - multi/inter-disciplinary, systems perspective that we endeavored to sensemake in our lab. Mindful. Playful. Creative. Engaged. Curious. The aim was to make complex simple. To bring big together with narrow in the sacred space of creative possibility between. To transform the experience of chaos and mess into something sublime. Ultimately, we wanted to build a place to play with our creative potential and to hold a space that would allow the value of the spaces in between to emerge, unfold, expand... with a macroscope perspective to unleash the potential for social impact.... and we wanted to live mindfully and productively working in a digitally-mediated global context.

In 6 months, we cogenerated amazing ideas that continue to live in us- expressed from time to time in posts and projects. We honed a vision for Macroscope Labs* (mL) from future of work ideas, such as the world's first Center for the Emerging _____ and a research proposal to pilot and analyze the innovation value of an Ecosystem Diplomatic Corps (Ecosystem Diplomats explained)... to systems issues that we frame-worked* such as Macroscope Playhouse and Macroscope Compass... to finding a home base for our shared personal narratives as "context chameleons"* and knowmads.

5 Things it Might Help to Know Before You Launch an Experiment About the Future of Work

No one will understand what you are doing. (They'll think you are nuts.) You may not understand what you are doing. (You may wonder if you are crazy) When it's over, no one, including yourself, will understand what you did or why it mattered. And yet, it is most important that you do it. Experiments are our learning way into the future. You will learn and the people you work/play with will learn. However, don't expect anyone in the current world of work to understand and/or to value your skills from an experiment about the future of work- now that is nuts!

Take home: Don't let the present judge the future. Let the future judge the past.

While the future is full of possibility, we still live in the present. A lot can happen with alternative, complementary and gift currencies/economies, yet one needs money to live in the present. TimeBank, for example, still needs about 30% of the value they generate in dollars in order to fund their own operations. Think about yourself as the TimeBank, make sure that you have enough to cover your basic survival needs in the present before embarking on the future. Future-focused projects take time to build traction and attract the kind of funding that they need to sustain themselves on an ongoing basis. Long enough for the present to catch up with that future horizon on which you are operating. As with any new business, there is a period of time until you have a steady cash flow; likely wise, with a new technology, one has to be adequately prepared to "cross the chasm," the period of time between when an small pocket of early adopters discover and endorse the product until it grows to a steady early market of mainstream users. Think of future-focused projects as both a new business and a new technology and prepare accordingly. Bring extra reserves to cross the chasm between you and the Oasis, it may be like crossing the Sahara.... and that's fun as long as you are prepared!

Take home: Feet in the present, eye on the future... and mind the Chasm!

If you know that you want to leave signposts for others, be sure to have a documentation strategy. If you want to make things beautiful, be sure to have a designer on your team. If you want to do things quick and dirty, know how to explain the vision simply and to scaffold the context accessibly, because people may not 'get' the messy version. If the goals that you have don't align with the skills that you have on the team, then shift the goals to play to the strengths of your team or get the skills. Alignment on this is mission critical. My hunch: skill set for the future worker will be radically different; people will need to know how to communicate simply and effectively in writing, code and drawing.

Take home: Know your audience and get the right team- diverse skills sets with varying pockets of depth, what you don't know, you learn rapidly, and eager to do what needs to be done for the project's success.

Before you start and along the way, identify a means for you to demonstrate what you learned, what skills you developed, what learning you gained. When a job/role does not fit in the present, it is hard for people in the present to understand how to interpret what was undertaken. Some ideas on how to approach that are outlined in a 5*5 Systematic Approach to move from Idea to Pilot and from 5 years ago, I posted a seed {idea post} for the BeWell, WorkWell tool for soft skills development. More recently, a seed {idea post} for a learning journey tool, which would enable people to identify and demonstrate soft skill learning under emergent conditions.

Take home: Prepare to document what you are learning at the outset. Remember to do it along the way!

On the journey to the future, other people will emerge around you who seem to be doing the same thing. Celebrate that! Celebrate them! Team up. When possible an open knowledge framework enables you to engage more people and grow more rapidly. Share your learnings. If they don't want to play, then let it go and celebrate them anyway! It will take many people trying, many times in order for one team to break through the wall of the present. Be happy that you are one of those pushing the wall, and be confident that whether you are that one or not, your initiative contributes to launching a new direction. Those who rise quickly, do so by standing on the shoulders of those who came before. There are always those who came before. Find them and learn from them. Most 'lauded' inventors didn't actually invent what they are known for, they made an vital improvement that took the invention to a new level of market accessibility.

Take home: Celebrate others! Open source everything possible. Seek out those who preceded and learn from them.

Never underestimate the power of in person

*We had all of these domain names. My registrations glitched on the renew, and so they are released- all available. Go do something interesting and build on our ideas. Give us a shout out when you do so that we can amplify your work!

Thought contributors: With immense gratitude to and for Eddie Harran, my brilliant collaborator, awesome ideas instigator, cherished friend, mindful mate and hapatwin. Thanks to David Hood and the Gathering '11 energy for pulling Eddie and me to Melbourne where we sealed the deal on mL. Never underestimate the power of in person.

A dear friend is retiring at the end of the month. I decided to take a twist on the season's advent calendar to commemorate her life's work by making a retirement advent calendar, "A Bouquet of Memories from Natural History."

I took the calendar and stripped it down to it's base so that I had a sturdy cardboard backing and an easy hook at the top for the calendar to hang on.

Then, I cut velcro squares into quads. (Twice as many needed for the receiving side.) I arranged those quads on the top of the calendar. Around each piece of velcro I wrote a little "happy memory prompt" ... this is a retiring attorney so things like "best court moment," "truth stranger than fiction," "best argument"...

Then, I cut and taped the calendar for December 2011 to the base.

For this project, I used the page on the calendar where it gives you a "preview" of all the pictures. I cut each of those mini-pictures around its edges to make small "advent cards."

I took each advent card and put a small piece of velcro for the attaching side on the back and covered the prompts.

Then, on the front page of the calendar, I attached the second set of receiving velcro at the bottom of the full size picture.

The front page was attached to the backboard with clips and ribbons. And voila!

By the end of the month, as she takes one flower from the top and places it onto the bottom, she will create a bouquet and each day, she'll have a new prompt of happy memories to make the last few weeks fun.

This is a great recycling/reuse project for calendars, which are also abundant at this time of year. I usually cut the gorgeous prints and (re)use them for cards, wrapping paper or wall hangings.

This is a new and exciting use and a fun way to build anticipation for a special occasion!

It would be cool to make this a scalable project. I enjoyed the physicality of playing with the calendar, but one could imagine a template in iphoto or a calendar service where one could select the advent card icons and write the text for the prompts and then send it to someone as a printable or virtual special event advent calendar.... ooh, possibilities!

What if the writing community created a resource like 99designs but for stories?

People who need a story for their project or product could submit the proposal. It would send the proposal to writers until a couple of people accepted the "challenge." The user would get to choose among the stories provided. There is a huge writing community over at 750words.com and 99designs.com already has the technical architecture.

B. Gaps of Geo-Political-Socio-Economics (GPSE) To assess the Gaps of GPSE, we consider how these contextual layers – geography, politics, and socio-economics that impact communities differently, might limit a proposed action. The Gaps of GPSE are already well recognized as critical components of ongoing disparities. For example, the GPSE factors constitute ‘social determinants of health;’ they reflect recognized barriers to accessing legal services and equitable remedies; and they associate with exposure to environmental hazards. Thus, when we aspire to take conscious, inclusive action, we want to make sure that we reflect critically upon these components and assess whether our proposed action may unintentionally exclude groups based on GPSE attributes?

To harness the use of creative disciplines - literature, theater, film, dance, painting, photography - to communicate messages that are often too challenging for people to hear directly. Relying upon the accessibility afforded by the opportunity to observe in another - film, play, novel - what one cannot dare to speak and hear and see in plain view, we aspire to promote dialogue on challenging social issues and to create visions of integrity that inspire a shift in the status quo and invite people to dwell in wellness and to promote human dignity for all.

Goals- To support and promote efforts that harness the power of creativity to communicate compelling messages about the situation of others.- To create and disseminate new art works across media that promote wellness, health, and human dignity